


(Un)easy

by copper_leaf



Series: Naruto Rare Pair Event 2019 [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Awkwardness, Cave Fic, Feelings Realisation, M/M, Mission Fic, Oblivious, Rain, Sharing Body Heat, Sharing a Bed, Undressing, Wet Clothing, rarepairbingo2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-19 17:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19137736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copper_leaf/pseuds/copper_leaf
Summary: Tobirama and Kagami take shelter from a storm.





	(Un)easy

**Author's Note:**

> Naruto rare pair bingo
> 
> Board A: shackfic/cavefic | Board B: Tobirama | Board C: Kagami
> 
> There's something so soft and fluffy and adorable about Shisui & Kagami. It must be the hair...

They were safely within Fire Country, no more than half a day from the village, so it made sense to stop. After all, night had come early with the storm that soaked them through, and Tobirama might have an affinity for water-based jutsu, but he didn’t enjoy having his clothing weighed down by rain, clinging to his skin beneath his armour, and he doubted his companion was any happier with the situation than he was. Kagami hadn’t once complained, but that didn’t mean he was content.

The cave was where he remembered it, the trees overhead already providing some protection and a generous bundle of still-dry kindling greeting them.

“We’ll stop here for a few hours,” Tobirama announced, glancing around. The chances of danger were small, but complacency killed. “I’ll create a barrier, you start a fire.”

“Yes, Tobirama-san,” Kagami said dutifully, trying to hide his stiffness as he moved.

Tobirama pretended he hadn’t seen it. The cold and wet might have been worse for the almost healed injury on Kagami’s leg than he’d anticipated, but Kagami hadn’t mentioned it. He would if it was an issue. At any rate, heat from a fire ought to help.

When he returned to the cave he found Kagami resting next to a newly lit fire, thin smoke curling against the roof above their heads before being sucked towards the entrance. He pulled a scroll from his belt, unsealing it to reveal a bedroll, a flask, and a pouch of dried meat, and then set his bed against the wall.

“You won’t rest well if you’re soaked through,” he pointed out to Kagami, who was staring into the flames as Tobirama started to loosen the straps of his own armour.

Kagami’s hand moved to do the same, only it was shaking, and Tobirama evaluated the fact carefully.

“Is your leg—”

“It’s fine, thank you,” Kagami insisted, looking up and giving Tobirama a thin smile, the sort of expression Tobirama knew others gave in an attempt at reassurance. Armour fell away, Tobirama forgetting to work on his own as he watched Kagami. “I’m just colder than I would like to admit, that’s all,” Kagami added.

He looked disarming as he said that, and it was nothing to do with the way his dark navy top clinging to his slender body. There was a softness to his expression, something a little vulnerable. His focus was averted, but Tobirama found it impossible to look away as Kagami pulled his top off too, peeling the clinging fabric from his skin and visibly shuddering as he arranged it over his armour, as close to the fire as he could.

He was much paler than Tobirama thought he ought to be, even in the warm light of the fire. Scars littered his skin here and there, a burn rising over his left hip and ending in a vicious welt. Tobirama stared at it, before remembering himself and giving a slow exhale, returning to the task of removing his own clothing.

He expected Kagami to pull out his own bedroll, but all Kagami did was chew slowly on some onigiri, shivering softly as he stared at the fire and finished his food. He seemed to have no intention of lying down.

“Will you not rest?” he asked.

“You take your turn first,” Kagami said quietly. “I’ll make sure the fire doesn’t go out.”

“Build it up so you are warmer.”

Kagami gestured towards a small bundle of firewood. “We can have a strong fire for an hour, or a smaller one for three hours.”

Tobirama’s gaze lingered on the wood as his hands lingered at the hem of his own top. “Build it up,” he decided, pulling his top off with as much grace as he could when it had almost become a part of his skin. “Our clothes can dry while we rest. We do not need to take watch.”

Kagami looked like he wanted to protest – he certainly wanted to say something – but the words didn’t come. Instead, he closed his open mouth, looking away and flushing for no discernible reason as he did as Tobirama said.

When he reached for his own scroll, Tobirama interrupted him. “It might be best if we share.”

Kagami turned to stare at him as if he’d sprouted seven heads. “Um… Tobirama-san?”

“We will do a better job of keeping warm once the fire goes out if we share body heat.”

Kagami looked away, his breathing quick and heart rate elevated for some reason. “I’m not sure if that’s…”

Whatever he thought it was, or wasn’t, Kagami didn’t say. In the end he relented, although there was a noticeable tension to him, and a tightness to his mouth.

“Is your wound troubling you?” Tobirama pressed.

“No, no it’s…” and then Kagami tugged the bottom of his pants from his leg wrappings, trying to pull the fabric up high enough to reveal the gash that had been treated two days ago. It didn’t show enough, and with a terse sigh, Kagami shook his head. “It’s fine.”

“We might as well dry the rest of our clothes too.”

“We might as well,” Kagami echoed, although there was something resigned about the way he said it.

As far as Tobirama could tell, Kagami had nothing to be ashamed of when it came to his body. He was fit and healthy, strong. There was nothing unbecoming about him. In fact, he was a rather becoming young man. The hard edges a ninja’s life hadn’t left their mark on every inch of his body, and Kagami’s face held the kind of softness Tobirama knew was attractive. His hands looked like the kind of hands Tobirama would want and trust to heal him, to take his in their own if he were lost or blinded and show him the way. A lot of ninja had a fluid grace to them, but Kagami managed to make it incredibly beautiful artform, like it was a skill no one else had realised they could perfect to such a degree. He was strong, kind, devoted, loyal…

And those weren’t things Tobirama could see in someone’s physical form, so the presence of them gave him pause. Kagami followed orders dutifully.

“Are you uneasy in my presence?” he wondered, a knot of tension forming in his chest at the idea.

Kagami, his fingers having made slow work of unfastening his pants, looked up. “No.”

But he sounded uncertain, the word seeming thick and difficult to voice.

“We don’t have to share,” Tobirama offered.

Kagami stood up, pushing his pants down and revealing the healing wound on his thigh. It was a dark, angry but healing red, showing no signs of reopening or infection.

“As you said,” Kagami spoke, stepping from his pants and crouching, rearranging his clothes over his armour to give both garments the best chance of drying – he was shivering, his thigh muscle twinging, “it makes sense to share.”

It did, until Tobirama realised that Kagami might be averse to it. “I have no desire to make you feel anxious or uneasy.”

“I’m fine.”

Which closed the matter to any further discussion, even if Tobirama wasn’t happy with it. Kagami’s words, and the way he avoided his gaze as much as he could without making it obvious, hinted at an unease Kagami wasn’t willing to voice. If his own clothes weren’t saturated, Tobirama would leave them on. He felt a degree of self-consciousness he wasn’t familiar with as he peeled them off, trying not to look towards Kagami as he hung them out to dry as best they could on the now growing fire.

He settled on his bedroll, tucking himself as far back as he could to leave ample space for Kagami. Another person could join them almost comfortably, filling the space that was left between them after Kagami lay down too, lying stiffly with his back to Tobirama.

It felt wrong. They were just teammates, sharing warmth, and yet Kagami wasn’t close enough for that and Tobirama felt nothing like his usual self. Uncertainty gnawed at him, his defences slipping as he stared at the nape of Kagami’s neck. His hair was wet, the curls plastered to his skin and adding an almost alarming softness. Tobirama didn’t know why it was alarming, until he realised it was because he wanted to reach out and gently touch where wet hair met damp skin.

They’d worked together for so long without Tobirama ever faltering like this. Kagami was a fellow shinobi. Tobirama always took care to see him as such.

He closed his eyes, realising it was hard to see Kagami that way now. It had always been easier not to notice the softness in his form, the inviting smell of his skin, the rich melody of his voice, the gentleness of his aura. Kagami’s presence was always reassuring, and Tobirama took care to avoid seeing anything more than competence in the younger man.

He couldn’t help seeing it now, and also the way Kagami trembled.

“You are shivering,” he breathed.

“Cold,” came the soft answer.

After a moment of hesitation, Tobirama asked: “May I?”

A tight noise of assent escaped Kagami, and Tobirama tried not to think of anything beyond helping a teammate as his hand settled against Kagami’s waist. His skin was chilly, somewhere between damp and clammy, and cool against Tobirama’s chest as he pressed close against the other man.

It was impossible not to feel the tension in Kagami’s body, followed by a whimper. For a moment there was nothing, and then Kagami pushed back the smallest of fractions, gravitating towards the warmth Tobirama offered.

Tobirama held himself still as Kagami settled against him, relieved. “The storm should die down soon,” he said gently against Kagami’s nape. Wet hair tickled his brow.

Kagami hummed in answer, shifting a little more and then relaxing. The heat of his own body, while not sufficient to warm him yet, was inescapable to Tobirama. There was nothing Tobirama could think about or focus on but Kagami: the smell of rain in his hair, the soft dampness of his skin where they pressed together. He was a comforting weight against Tobirama’s front, and Tobirama knew he was almost holding him. All he would have to do is shift his arm, wrap just that little bit more around Kagami…

Without knowing exactly why, Tobirama did just that. His hand shifted from Kagami’s hip to his stomach, sliding up to rest against chest. He would have to be senseless not to notice the way Kagami’s breathing hitched, his heart rate spiking and that tension returning.

“Should I…?” he wondered.

A calloused hand closed over his, the touch gentle, holding him in place. “Don’t let go.”

_ Oh. _

With more confidence, Tobirama held on tighter, trying not to tremble as he understood what Kagami meant by that fragile plea. “I won’t.”

Kagami relaxed again, his hand staying over Tobirama’s. It was hard to tell if his heart was still racing, though, given that Tobirama’s had just kicked into overdrive. His senses were filled by an onslaught of information he had no idea what to do with, because everything was urging him to hold onto Kagami and never let go. He was utterly compromised by his own reaction to the man in his arms, feeling as if he’d always belonged there.

“Kagami?” he asked, wondering what came next.

“Hm?”

He faltered, his eyes falling closed as an unsteady breath left him, crashing against Kagami’s skin and making it warm and damp.

It was both the easiest and the hardest thing for Tobirama to lean in the tiniest of fractions, pressing his lips to Kagami’s nape in a gentle kiss, the gesture there for Kagami to accept or ignore.

There was a shift, Kagami turning in his arms, and deep red and black eyes filled with emotion met his own. In the firelight, sheltered from the storm, Tobirama found that, more than loyalty, he had Kagami’s love.


End file.
